Improvement in heeds foe oegans



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@uiten gta/tes 'inherent @frn WILLIAM lvIUNROE, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS .Letters Patent No. 73,114, dated January 7, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN REEDS FOB. ORGANS, tite..

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:v

Be it known that I, WILLIAM MUNROE, of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex, and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Musical Reeds, such as are used in Reed- Organs, Melodeons, lite.; and I do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with' the drawings which accompany and form part of this specification, is a description of my invention suilicient to enable those skilled in the art to practise it.

This invention is an improvement'on the detail of the construction' of common reeds in the matter of the mode ot' uniting and securing the vibratory tongues to their metallic seats, the practice heretofore having been to rivet each tongue toits seat, this calling for great care in manipulation, in order to have the tongue so secured in place on the seat that it will vibrate freelyin the slot therein, without touching the metal of the seat, and so as'to have an equal clearance on each side and at the free end of the tongue.

Figure l of the drawings shows a cross-section, taken through one of my improved reeds, on the line .e e, seen 1n /Figure 2, which is a longitudinal section taken on the line y y, seen in Figure 3said figure being a. reversed plan'ot the tongue, bed, or scat.

The metallic seat or bed is marked a, and, as usual, is made of plate-metal, usually rolled brass-sheet, which, by suitable rotary burr-cutters, is slotted so as to form a suitable aperture through thc seat, in which lthe tongue b can vibrate, under the inuence of an air-current, thereby producing the desired tone. New, the upper surface of the seats of common reeds is left as a plane, and the tongue is held thereto, and in its proper relation to the slot therein, by a single rivet, the head ot' which being on the upper side, and projecting above the surface of the fixed end ofthe tongue, serves as a knob by which the reed can be pulled out from the groove in which it is tted in an instrument.

In my improvement, by means of a suitable punch, I displace a portlon of the metal of the seat, so that where the tongue is to be secured there is a swell or projection ofthe metal. This projection I then groove longitudinally, so that the width of the groove shall coincide with the width. ofthe tongue, and so that the sides of this groove shall be parallel with the sides of the slot in which the tongue vibrates. The height of the projection, made as described, is a little greater than the thickness of the end of the tongue which is toibe'xed, so that when the tongue is placed in the groove made in the projection, the projecting metal forming the sides of the groove can be pressed or closed down and against the tongue, lixing one end firmly in and upon its bed, beyond chance of accidental displacement. In making this groove in the projection, whether made by a rotary cutter or otherwise, it is found of great advantage to have the bottom of the groove soihewhat concave, or else tophave a slight elevation or ridge at the end nearest the slot, in order that the tongue shall by no possibility fail lto rest rmlyat that extreme point or-terminusbf the vibrations, and thus preclude absolutely any jar or vibration of the tongue, except in that portion designed to be left free. A rotary cutter of proper diameter will, of itself, necessarily leave this groove in this desired form. When cut by other means, it is merely necessary that the groove be made somewhat deeper at that portion which lies to the rear of the forward point of contact of the tongue with its bed. This feature is designated in the drawings by the letter z'i As in this construction there is no rivet-head to serve as a knob for the purpose before named, I make, betweenthe ixed end of thetongue and the end of the plate a, a displacement of the metal of a, from the under to the upper side of a, which may be done by a. punch acting at the same time with the punch which dis places the metal by which the tongue is secured. l

In the drawings, c is the upper and d the lower surface of thc bed-piece. The depression in the bcd-piece from its lower surface, and which provides the material for holding the tongue, is marked e, and the depression which produces the knob which serves as means for drawing out the r-ced, is marked f, while the knob itself` is marked g, and the metal which holds the ton-gue is marked t.

In ling or 'twisting the tongues to voice, tune, or pitch the notes ofthe reeds in the old construction, thc tongues were often moved on the rivet, as on a pivot, after having been properly fixed in place with great care, this involving considerable labor and time to again adjust and secure the tongues. In uiyconstructionsuch accidents can never occur, and with proper punches for making the depressions or displacements of the metal,

and proper cutters for grooving the bed for the tongue, the new construction becomes cheaper than the old, as well as neater and more effective and accurate. Y

In the old construction, the rivet often fails to bring all parts of the iixed end of the tongue into Contact with the seat, and when such is the ease thetongue produces a. disagreeable buzzing sound, instead of n. clear musical note. This my construction prevents, as it firmly closes all parts of"the rear end of the tongue down upon its bed, so that there can be no jar er vibration ofthe confined part ofthe tongue on its seat.v l.

I claim, as an improved manufacture, musical reeds, in which the tongue is secured in place between two projections, in the manner substantially as described.

Also, the combination with the tongue secured in place, substantially as described, of a. depression in the middle, or elevation at the ends of the bed, te which it is secured, substantialli)T as andfor the purpose set forth.

WILLIAM MUNROE.

Witnesses:

J. B. CROSBY, L. H. LATIMER. 

